


It Was Always Him

by drarryangels



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-10 00:24:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15279504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drarryangels/pseuds/drarryangels
Summary: Lily had always felt calmed by water. When you were underwater it felt as if there was nothing else in the world except for you, and the feeling of something powerful enfolding you in its arms. Before she had gotten her Hogwarts letter, she had often swam in the lake by her house with Petunia, but when she began school Petunia no longer spoke to her, and if she did it was minimal. When she saw Quidditch for the first time, she loved it. The speed, excitement, and the life it brought. And for a long time, she never thought about swimming. It was something of the past, and she never thought of it. Until the day when she started getting a nagging feeling, as if she was missing out on something in life.





	It Was Always Him

Lily had always felt calmed by water. When you were underwater it felt as if there was nothing else in the world except for you, and the feeling of something powerful enfolding you in its arms. Before she had gotten her Hogwarts letter, she had often swam in the lake by her house with Petunia, but when she began school Petunia no longer spoke to her, and if she did it was minimal. When she saw Quidditch for the first time, she loved it. The speed, excitement, and the life it brought. And for a long time, she never thought about swimming. It was something of the past, and she never thought of it. Until the day when she started getting a nagging feeling, as if she was missing out on something in life.

Lily inhaled slowly, letting the sharp air fill her lungs. She had spent weeks and weeks trying to find the source of the nagging feeling. She studied hard, made sure she wrote her parents, attempted to write Petunia, and had even taken time to become friends with James Potter. And yet, the feeling had not diminished. In fact, it had only gotten stronger and more bothersome.   
She inhaled again. This was the place, almost two full years ago, that James had hung Severus in the air, and the day Severus had called her a Mudblood, finally finishing their friendship. Despite the fact that she had moved on, it still made her stomach ache to stand in the precise spot that Remus Lupin had sat, watching the whole scene play out from under the beech tree. Lily shifted her feet, feeling the pebbles prick her toes. It was almost Christmas. There was a thin blanket of snow surrounding the castle, and the air was frigid. But Lily wore almost nothing that could shield her from the withering cold. She was barefoot and wearing a thin, white summer dress that she had dug out of the bottom of her trunk. It was one of her favorite dresses that she had worn this past summer. And coincidentally the same dress she had worn when James had stood on her doorstep and asked for forgiveness several weeks before school had begun.  
So there she stood, standing by the half frozen Great Lake, under the beech tree, wondering if this was what had been nagging her for weeks. She had a gut feeling it was, but she wouldn’t know for sure until she stepped into the water. She had been hoping it wouldn’t come to this. It was mid-winter after all, but she couldn’t put it off any longer. It was time to finally put her anxiety to rest. And if this was the cause of it, she would have no reluctance to fiercely end it.  
Lily grabbed a low branch of the beech tree. She had seen Sirius Black do this thousands of times, and had even climbed it up herself for star gazing purposes. So, she had no difficulty pulling herself up to the highest point possibly reached on the tree. (This limit was tested by a third year last year, who ended up at the foot of the tree with the broken tree branch, three broken ribs, and a concussion.) She slowly edged out onto the overhanging branch, scooting until she was almost at the tip. She looked down and watched her feet dangle for a moment. The water was pitch black in the dark night, with pinpricks of light reflecting off of it. It swirled placidly, and Lily wondered if the Giant Squid was waiting for her to jump so it could attack the moment her toes reached the water.  
She contemplated for a minute more, and then shoved herself off the branch. It seemed as if time slowed down just for her. Even if it were only for a moment, the vicious and feared time let her pass through for just a second. She felt herself dropping like a stone, the wind gliding through her fingers. For a moment, she felt like she could have been flying. Then she heard a panicked voice come from her left.  
“Lily!”  
It was only her name, but instantly she knew it was James. She caught a glance of him sprinting towards her, but it was too late. She plummeted into the gelid water with a splash and a shriek. Lily didn’t bother coming up for air right away. She opened her eyes, and although everything was blurry she could still see the bubbles swirling around her. Immediately, she thought this was what she had needed. The feeling of her dress twisting around her, her hair brushing her shoulders and encircling her head, the faint stinging of the water in her eyes, and best of all, the feeling of silky arms surrounding her existence. For moments that were too long, but too short, she floated, slowly sinking to the bottom. She could see the hazy moon waving to her, and then another burst of bubbles, and suddenly there was a dark form swimming down to her. Warm arms wrapped around her from behind, and then she was rising up and up, and then suddenly, there was air.   
Lily gasped and inhaled. The air was even colder when she was in the water, and her fingertips and toes were starting to go numb. She felt burning hot hands turn her around, and all at once, she was staring at the flushed face of James Potter.   
“Are you mad?” he asked urgently.  
“I’m sorry, what?” Lily inquired, completely befuddled.  
“I just watched you climb a tree, and jump into the Great Lake! It’s barely ten degrees out! What were you thinking?” he nearly shouts.  
Lily grins, “Well, I wasn’t really. I just knew I had to be in the water.”  
“So you jumped in, in the middle of winter.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.  
“Um, yes?”   
“What am I going to with you?” James laughed. Lily grinned, and it seemed like she was seeing James Potter for the first time. He was fully dressed in robes, a cloak, and a scarf. All his clothes were sopping wet now, and were drifting gently around him in the frigid water. His hair was dripping and was plastered to his forehead and neck, and his glasses were splattered with water. But despite this, his hazel eyes shone more brightly than ever, and his grin was as wide as always. And in that moment, Lily Evans knew for sure that she was in love with him.   
She smiled and tenderly pushed a curl off his cheek. His smile softened, and he slowly leaned forward, towards her. Lily threaded her fingers through his hair, and closed the gap between them. Then they were kissing, and all they could think was how much one loved the other, and how they are two warm people in a cold, cold world.  
After a moment, they leaned back and grinned at each other. James wrapped his arms around her waist, and Lily threw her arms around his neck. The hug was sweet and quiet, and spoke volumes, and yet it was nothing more than what it was.   
They clasped hands, and waded out of the Great Lake. The two of them sprinted back to the castle where Mr. Filch shouted at them, and they giggled and ran back to the common room. And as they held hands, each one was thinking, although the other didn’t know it, finally.

Later James would tell Lily, “Ya know, if there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”  
Lily would roll her eyes and hold his hand, and say, “You silly boy! Of course, there’s magic. You of all people should know.”  
“I don’t think that’s what it means. And after all, the reason we’re together now is because you jumped into the lake,” James would say.  
Lily would stare at him thoughtfully, “I suppose you’re right. You are rather brilliant, you know.”  
“Actually Loren Eiseley is,” James would roar with laughter. “Some brilliant Muggle from America.”  
Lily would chuckle and peck him on the cheek. From that day on, Lily and James would jump into the Great Lake every year, in the middle of winter. When they left school, they would fly over the lake a couple miles away from Godric’s Hollow, and drop from James’ broomstick into the water.  
Lily never got that nagging feeling ever again. And although at first she thought it was from the water, when she held James’ hand and watched him smile, she knew that the nagging feeling was never from her presence in the water. It was always him, and it always would be.


End file.
